------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 16, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
41 YEARS AGO IN WORKERS WORLD: CARRYING BLESSINGS OF "DEMOCRACY" ABROAD [This article by Vince Copeland appeared 41 years ago in Workers World, on Jan. 29, 1962, when few people in the United States had even heard of Vietnam.] United States planes are being used to spray poison on the crops of poor farmers in Asia. Exaggeration? Here are the details from the New York Times of Jan. 19, 1962: "United States planes have sprayed jungle growth ... to remove foliage hiding Communist guerrillas ... "The chemical mixture is supposed to kill all trees and brush, but the withering and dropping of leaves may take five days to three weeks ... "A South Vietnamese official said today that defoliant chemicals would also be sprayed on Viet Cong plantations of manioc and sweet potatoes in the highlands. "Tests have shown, he said, that manioc and sweet potatoes die four days after having been sprayed." The average income of a Vietnamese is less than $80 per year. But the U.S. is spending several millions just to destroy the sweet potato crop (only in the rebellious areas, of course!). This is not all. Most Vietnamese do not have shoes. But the U.S. is planning to supply 500,000 radios by 1965. Reason? So the U.S. bosses' propaganda can be heard by more people. The U.S. Agency for International Development has already provided $1,500,000 for a seven-station radio network. And American military "advisers" trained in psychological warfare are teaching Vietnamese officers new propaganda techniques. The U.S. is sending thousands of soldiers to Vietnam to help Vietnam's U.S. puppet army shoot down the long-suffering Vietnamese people. The U.S. has sent hundreds of millions in "aid"--civilian as well as military. But the civilian part of the aid never touches the shoeless peasants or the tribal hill people--not to mention the unemployed city dwellers. It is given mostly to the already wealthy Diem clique (of President Ngo Dinh Diem, who only keeps his job by virtue of U.S. support). What kind of regime do the U.S. bankers and bosses intend to foist upon the suffering Vietnamese if they succeed in throttling this heroic people with their poison, planes and propaganda? A small clue was provided by the Jan. 1 New York Times: "Reports of a 'dictatorship' by President Ngo Dinh Diem are misleading, officials insist, because no basis for democracy exists yet. Attempts to hold village 'elections' would only favor a legal Communist takeover in many places." Obviously, the kind of "democracy" the U.S. Army is bringing to Vietnam can only be established if the present majority of Vietnamese who would vote "the wrong way" in any election are either slaughtered into the silence of the grave or terrorized into submission. Frederick E. Nolting Jr., U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, is optimistic about a successful slaughter, but he hinted to the press recently that the struggle should be viewed "more in the pattern of the fight against the Communist insurgents in Malaya, that lasted about 10 years." Life and the revolution will prove the ambassador to be wrong--even if he gets his 10-year timetable. The U.S. brass hats have only made what gains they have in South Vietnam because the Soviet Union and China have not responded to the aggressive moves of U.S. imperialism there in a military way--so far. For China in particular, Vietnam represents a vital area to her own national self-defense (with virtually a common border) as well as a revolutionary obligation. For the United States, Vietnam will be a "dirty war" and an international disgrace. Whatever temporary victories Nolting and Kennedy may gain from plant poisons and fire bombs, United States capitalism will inevitably lose in Vietnam--politically, morally and militarily as well. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
